Help with changing beams in unusual time signatures
I am transcribing some Stravinsky where the time signatures frequently alternate between 2/4, 3/8, 4/4, 5/8, 7/8 and so on. Taking 5/8 as a typically problematic situation, Musescore arranges 5 consecutive quavers (1/8th notes) in beamed groups of 3 then 2. Sometimes, the score calls for the grouping to be 2, 3 but I am unable to find a way to achieve this.
I have read 'How beams work' but to no avail. I either get the default condition -'The beaming pattern defined in the time signature will be applied to the note', or individual quavers. The best I have managed is the first 2 beamed, then 3 unbeamed quavers. No way can I get the first 2 beamed followed by the last 3 beamed.
Am I missing something?
Comments
Create a time signature with each of the different beaming options as explained in https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/time-signatures#create-time-signatu… and apply the appropriate time signature. For a mixture of beaming on different staves consider adjusting properties on a staff by staff basis, see https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/time-signatures#time-sig-properties.
In reply to Create a time signature with… by mike320
Thanks for that. Had a play around with it. I now have two 5/8 time signatures with differing beaming patterns (3 2 & 2 3) and I appear to be able to use them alternately.
In reply to Thanks for that. Had a play… by Chris Holleworth 2
It isn't the most obvious thing to do, but once one practices with it a little it is easy as is the case with most new processes in MuseScore.
In reply to It isn't the most obvious… by mike320
I certainly isn't obvious, but it works! I now need to dig around to see why I get pairs of time signatures appearing randomly through the score.
In reply to I certainly isn't obvious,… by Chris Holleworth 2
It's a bug that's fixed in 3.1-beta. You can use that for everything (I only use 3.1-beta) the link is at https://musescore.org/en/3.1beta
In reply to It's a bug that's fixed in 3… by mike320
Thanks for your continued help. I updated to the latest version of 3.1 and opened the score in question. Unfortunately the problem was still there (about 9 occurrences) but no further examples occurred when I completed the score, which was about half of it. Again, am I missing something?
As I am sure you are aware, a copy and paste into a new score does not carry forward the time signature changes which entails setting up the time structure beforehand.The Stravinsky Octet has around 140 time changes in just over 600 bars so this is not practicable.
This is only for rehearsal purposes so is only a very minor inconvenience but slightly annoying.
In reply to Thanks for your continued… by Chris Holleworth 2
The "randomly" occurring double time signatures can normally be eliminated by dragging the same time signature to the existing one or selecting one of the duplicates and removing the check from "Show courtesy" in the inspector.
In reply to The "randomly" occurring… by mike320
Mike, you are a star! That worked using the 'show courtesy' method. I highlighted the second occurrence in each case and bingo! It doesn't work on the 1st occurrence, but then I have no idea of the logic behind the problem. You can do several at a time, too.
It doesn't carry through to the parts but that can be easily done by deleting the parts and then recreating them.
Thanks again.
In reply to Mike, you are a star! That… by Chris Holleworth 2
I thought it might require the second occurrence being selected, but I don't have a score I can test it on at the moment so I was working from my memory, which is always dangerous.
In reply to Thanks for your continued… by Chris Holleworth 2
The bugs that resulted in double time signatures are fixed in that they should get created any more, but existing ones won't go away. To get rid of them, turn of courtesy time signatures in Format / Style / Page, save, then reload and turn them back on. This normally works. If you continue to have trouble, feel free to attach your score so we can understand and assist better.
In reply to The bugs that resulted in… by Marc Sabatella
Thank you. That also works, and faster than doing them individually. You guys are invaluable.